Watch: Howden says Golden Knights didn’t like start

Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden scored the empty-net goal at 19:09 of the third period to seal the 3-1 victory against the Vancouver Canucks at T-Mobile Arena on Thursday.

Howden also assisted on William Karlsson’s game-winner earlier that period.

But Howden said the team didn’t like their start to the game, where the Canucks took an early lead. Vancouver looked to have more life early in the game, which is not surprisingly a they were playing off adrenaline on the second game of a back-to-back.

Meanwhile, the Golden Knights had three days off and looked to be finding their legs after the short break in the opening frame.

“We realized we’d better get going, or we’re going to be out of this game in a hurry because the first period wasn’t anywhere near good enough for us to our standard,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Give them credit. They were ready to play.”

Once the Golden Knights found their game, however, they were able to score the three goals they needed to seal the deal.

“After the first, we realized we’ve got to wake up,” Howden said. “There were no excuses. We had a few days off to rest and recover, and we didn’t like our first, so I thought we did a good job [after the second period]. As the second period went on, we started building our game and got to where we like our game the best.”

Paul Delos Santos is the Las Vegas sports insider for Dice City Sports. Follow him on X at @PaulDelos_.